Prince Nicholas

"Nick! Wake up!" someone shook me roughly by the shoulder.

I turned away, not bothering to open my eyes. Anyone who knew me well enough to dare shake my shoulders thus would know that I hated being woken up so early in the morning.

"Five more minutes," I mumbled groggily, going back to sleep.

Almost the moment after the words left my lips, I was doused with ice-cold water!

I sat upright, shocked, as the first rays of the Sun shone sharply into my eyes without warning. That was when I realised that this was neither my bedchamber in Anchorvale Manor, nor my home in Bordeux.

What was I still doing here in the Silver Lagoon?

"Rise and shine, birthday boy," a sarcastic voice spoke to my left, "we need to return to the Manor now, if you please."

Julie stood over me with one hand on her hip, and the other holding a basket dripping with water, looking frighteningly murderous for such a petite woman.

"What the hell, Julie?" I spluttered and scowled, running a hand through my wet hair, "why did you wake me up?" I grew furious.

Her own fury reached a peak at that. "Well, you wanted to take a small nap for a few minutes here last night after the celebrations ended," she glared ferociously at me, "you seemed extremely exhausted, so I took pity on you and allowed it. But your few minutes turned into hours and 'tis already dawn! The Captains and I did not have a wink of sleep last night guarding you in this freezing cold - "

My anger dissipated at once, leaving behind shame and guilt. "Julie - "

" - and I kept trying and trying to wake you up for hours, but what did you do? You slept on, as if it was nobody's business - "

"I am sorry, I am sorry," I apologised, as I stood up to face her, "I swear, I did not mean to."

She continued to glare at me, the fire in her eyes ready to reduce me to ashes.

"Calm down, Julie," I held up my hands in surrender, "you look ready to gouge my eyes out."

She huffed, casting the basket aside. "I might as well, if it means you will never fall asleep again," she muttered, "come, let us return to the Manor." She was about to walk away, when I caught hold of her hand.

"Yes?" her golden curls almost whipped me in the face, when she turned around to bark at me.

"Will you not wish me a happy birthday?" I fought a smile.

She merely scowled at me for an answer.

"Someone seems to be rather grumpy this morning, eh?" I jested, before, "in any case, thank you so much for arranging the celebrations last evening, Julie. I truly enjoyed myself, and I am certain Richard did too." I grinned sincerely.

Her glare faltered very, very slightly. "You are welcome," she nodded curtly, and turned to walk away once more, before I fluidly pulled her back again against me, slipping my arms around her waist from behind.

She gasped in surprise, as the entire column of her neck turned bright red, much to my amusement.

"Nick, release me," she muttered, struggling.

The opportunity was too good to miss. "Why, are you uncomfortable?" I taunted.

She stopped moving, much too prideful for her own good. "Nay, I am not."

But the blush on her cheeks remained, as she stared straight ahead.

"Good," I chuckled, gazing up to watch the sunrise as I often had in the past, in this very place.

Only this time, I was watching it, not with my family, but with the woman I loved in my arms. Lord, I did not think I had ever enjoyed mornings as much as I did now.

She seemed quite taken with the view as well. "'Tis beautiful," she murmured, unconsciously tugging on one of her curls, that was the same shade and hue as the rays that shone upon it.

"I am aware," I smiled faintly, "truth be told, I had not expected myself to come here after such a long time." My voice turned slightly sad.

She glanced up at me. "I might have chosen another place for your birthday celebrations if your sister had not insisted on holding it here," she admitted, "why is it so special to you?" She was curious.

I shrugged nonchalantly, although the vague, blurry memories were still acutely painful. "My family used to come here every summer for camping trips. Without the Castle staff, without anyone else. Only us," the words tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop them, "'twas the only place we could be ourselves as a family, without having to handle all the attention and the overbearing duties that follow our titles. After Jamie died, and Richard disappeared, I simply could not bear to come here again."

Her expression softened, as she took it all in, understanding. "Does it still pain you to be here?"

I shook my head, smiling. "It used to," I reflected, "but not anymore. Now, I will always remember this lagoon as the place where I met my twin after ten years, and celebrated my birthday with him."

She heaved a sigh of relief. "Good. I do not want you to be miserable on your own birthday," she answered, before she seemed to remember something, "oh, and speaking of birthdays..." She untangled herself from my hold and faced me, rummaging in her pockets for something.

After a long time of searching, she produced a wrapped package. "Happy birthday, Nick," she held it out with a small smile.

I accepted it, pleasantly surprised. "Why, thank you. Truth be told, I thought you had forgotten to bring me a present," I jested, chuckling.

"I did not give it to you in front of all the others last night because there is something I need to tell after you open it." She gestured at me, unusually uncertain.

More curious than ever now, I ripped open the package, and was stunned when I saw what was beneath. I held up the silver object, watching it shine and sparkle with the golden rays of the Sun.

"A flute?" I whispered in astonishment, remembering the incident that had first began the feud between Julie and me all those years ago with astonishingly rare clarity.

"What is it, Papa? What is the surprise?"

Richard and I exchanged excited glances, hardly able to sit still in our seats, as Papa grinned down at us from ear to ear.

"Well, as your new pianoforte mistress tells me that you are both doing very well in your lessons, I decided to give you a present," Papa smiled, before reaching behind him to hold out two, silver flutes towards us.

We stared at them in awed silence, unable to believe our eyes.

However, Papa mistook our awe for disappointment. "I had assumed you both love music," he added uncertainly, "and that you might also like to learn to play a new instrument - "

He did not finish his sentence, for Richard and I had grabbed the flutes from his hands excitedly.

"Oh, thank you thank you, thank you, Papa!" I beamed, "I shall put it in a safe place this instant, and I promise to take good, good care of it."

"Good," he nodded at me in approval.

"When are our lessons, Papa?" Richard inquired, grinning.

"They begin tomorrow morning," he was clearly pleased by our enthusiasm, "now, off with you two. I have a lot of work to do."

We nodded, sprinting out of Papa's study towards our own chambers. Indeed, we were running so fast, and all too aimlessly, that we accidentally bumped into a little girl when we cut a corner.

As a result, Richard fell painfully down on his bottom, while I landed on top of her.

"Ouch, you are heavy!" came the familiar, soft voice that was now filled with annoyance, "get off me, you big donkey!"

Richard began to laugh out loud, as I flushed bright red and stood up. "Apologies, Julie," I muttered in embarrassment, as I held out a hand for her.

She reached out to grab it, and heaved herself off the floor in one fluid motion. Ensuring that her two pigtails were still as neat as how she had braided them that morning, and her gown had no wrinkles, she smiled ruefully up at me.

"'Tis all right," she shrugged, glancing at Richard and me, "why are you so happy?" She was curious.

"Papa gave us new flutes!" I beamed at her, as I held mine out towards her before Richard could, "see? We are even having lessons from tomorrow!"

"It is Papa's present to us," Richard added, grinning.

Julie bent over my hand, gazing at my silver flute with extreme awe and wonder. "It is so beautiful," she murmured, wide-eyed, almost afraid to touch it lest it vanished before her eyes, "I wish I had one too." She bit her lower lip, as she stared at it longingly.

"You can hold it, if you like," I offered generously, placing it in her hands.

She accepted it, twirling it in her fingers with caution, fingering the cool metal with reverence, as her forehead creased in deep thinking.

After a long while, she spoke. "Nick, will you allow me to borrow your flute until your lesson tomorrow, please?" she gazed up at me hopefully, "I wish to show it to Kat and Lisa and all my other friends!"

Now I was undecided. "But - "

Her eyes widened adorably. "Please?" she pleaded, "I promise to take good care of it, and return it to you by tomorrow morning. Pinkie promise." She held out her pinkie finger.

I could not refuse her when she looked at me like that. Especially since the very recent demise of her mother, my pianoforte mistress, I could hardly refuse her anything she asked, for fear of upsetting her further than she already was.

"All right," I sighed heavily, linking my pinkie with hers, "but you pinkie promised. You had better keep it."

Richard rolled his eyes. "Brother-mine, do not worry. Jules knows pinkie promises are unbreakable, does she not?" he shot her a quick grin.

Julie nodded, beaming. "Thank you, Nick!" she smiled shyly, "I will see you both later." With that, she ran off with my flute, skipping down the hallway, happier than I had seen her these last few weeks.

However, the next morning, she had come to me, sobbing and puffy-eyed, to return me a broken flute that had been hacked at so horribly, that it had been no longer recognisable.

She had insisted countless times that she had hid my flute under her pillow when she went to bed the night before, and when she woke up the next morning, it had suffered such atrocious damage without her knowledge.

Yet, my fury had known no bounds. How could she expect me to believe such an illogical explanation? How could she have broken a pinkie promise?

I had deeply loved that flute in the short time that I had it in my possession, mainly because I loved music, and also because it was one of Papa's very few presents to me.

Indeed, I had been so upset by its destruction, that it had been easy to convince myself that Julie had most likely wrecked my flute because she was jealous that she did not have one of her own.

However, only Ned and Lady Therese had agreed with me on that.

Even at five years old, Evoric, Lucien, Kat and Lisa had thought me ridiculous to believe that Julie was capable of such a thing, and they took her side.

Truth be told, it did not occur to me then that she might not even have the strength to inflict so much damage on such a hard, metallic object.

But then again, anger and hurt had clouded my judgement, and from that day forth, our enmity had begun. On one hand, I had been angry with her over the destroyed flute, and on the other, she had been angry with me that I had refused to believe her.

However, it mattered not anymore. Not to me, that was.

I eyed her in disbelief as she fiddled with her thumbs. "Julie?" I asked her once more, bewildered, holding up her gift, "why?"

"I..." she seemed at a loss of words.

"Yes?"

"By God, I had prepared a speech for this," she huffed in exasperation, looking away, "yet, I do not even know where to start at the moment." She sounded very much frustrated with herself.

I was faintly amused. "How about the beginning?"

She sighed, meeting my eyes hesitantly. "Till today, I know not what happened to your flute. I swear upon my mother, I had slept with it under my pillow, and the next morning, it lay on the foot of my bed completely destroyed, " she confessed, stammering slightly as she struggled to find the words, "I know how much it meant to you, and I am well aware that you have resented me ever since for its destruction. If you do not know already, I had resented you just as much for being so quick to judge, for not believing in my innocence, and for bullying me over such a simple matter for seven years until you left for Osterlund."

I remained silent, not interrupting her. What she said was the truth, word for word.

"Until we made that truce for Lisa and Evoric, I had always thought you were how you were towards me," she continued on, still uncomfortable with expressing her thoughts, "cruel, mean, and malicious."

Despite myself, a small smile made its way onto my face. "I had forgotten how subtle you can be with words."

She returned my smile weakly. "If there is anything at all I learnt in the few months of this Potential Quest, it is how mistaken I had been about you all these years," she whispered, "mayhap you know not, but you have been a true support to me recently, especially during the days I had to handle Lady Rosanna and the memory of my mother in Roche." I could have sworn her eyes became glassy at that moment, but before I could look again, it was gone.

"Julie - " I began softly, but she plunged on.

"I do not want everything to revert to how it was before we left Bordeux, when we return there after the Potential Quest," she took a deep, shuddering breath, "even after the truce, even after Lisa's wedding, even after your wedding, I want us to remain friends."

She gestured to the flute in my hands. "I gave you this flute so that we are even. Your flute was destroyed under my responsibility all those years ago, and now I have bought you a new one to atone for my mistake. Could we be friends with no strings attached this time?" Her eyes searched mine.

I fingered the flute absent-mindedly, before raising my eyes to hers. "You wish for us to be friends beyond the truce? Truly?"

She nodded vigorously.

I shot her a sad smile. "Nay."

Her eyes widened. "I beg your pardon?"

"I am afraid we cannot be friends with no strings attached, Julie."

The effect of my few, simple words were instantaneous. She flinched back as if I had struck her hard, and for once, she looked completely and utterly hurt.

"Why not?" the question was a bewildered whisper.

Somehow, the fact that she would even feel something at the loss of my supposed friendship sent a strange jolt of happiness through me. I kept silent, as I placed the flute back in the brown packaging, and into my pocket.

Her eyes watched me warily, as still as a statue.

Hesitantly, I reached out to cradle her face in my hands, and ran a thumb over her cheeks, gazing straight into her beautiful hazelnut brown eyes. All the while, she observed me anxiously, trembling, but not yet daring to pull away.

"Did I do something wrong?" she continued quietly, the slightest of tremors entering her voice, "I swear to God, whatever it is, I did not mean to, and I am very sorry - "

In spite of my will, all notions of caution flew out of my head, as I leaned down to press my lips to hers, cutting her off, telling her exactly why we could not remain mere friends anymore in the only way left to me.

***

The Lady Knight

I froze in astonishment for a moment.

Overwhelmed by the feel of his lips, supple and warm, moving against mine, my eyes slowly fluttered close, as all other thoughts fled my mind, leaving behind only fond memories of the boy in front of me.

How we had made the truce in Louvre. How we had formed an alliance in Tessensohn. How we had pranked Andrew. How he had cared for my well-being, more than I had myself, before and after I had rescued Richard. How he had ridden all the way to Cavarriere to bring Max to visit me when I was confined to my bed.

How he had saved my life in Roche. How he had stoically stood by me in Roche against Lady Rosanna. How he had stolen all my waltz numbers, as well as my marzipan blocks at the Ball. How his laughter, his smiles could brighten my whole day.

He pulled back for a moment, leaning his forehead against my own as he cautiously gauged my reaction. "Are you going to run away like the last time?" he murmured against my lips, his tone laced with a strange mix of playfulness and vulnerability.

I gazed into his clear, grey eyes, feeling my throat constricted with emotion, as those beautiful memories remained fresh on the forefront of my mind.

How inane had I been to even think that I could ever move on from him. That I could ever stop caring for him. That I could ever give him up to Tess, or any other woman for that matter without incurring lifelong heartache. That I could ever walk away from him, and live without him unscathed.

I would never be able to. Not now. Not ever.

I closed my eyes, feeling the usual wave of cold dread and anxiety building up within me. However, something in me stopped that wave, with a surprisingly forceful determination, before it could consume my mind whole.

It was more than enough.

I did not want to care about the future. I did not want to care about the reality that he was destined for someone else, specifically, Tess. I did not want to care about how badly I was destined to hurt when he married her.

For now, at least, I felt whole and at peace. For now, at least, he made me feel like I was the only one whom he adored, who mattered to him. For now, at least, he was all mine.

"I have grown weary of running away, Nick," I whispered.

A soft, crooked smile spread across his lips upon hearing my answer, before he kissed me once more slowly, sweetly, as if he were savouring every moment, and loosely wrapped his arms around my waist to pull me against his chest.

We basked in the steadily rising Sun's rays, surrounded by songbirds chirping softly in the background as we kissed, enveloped comfortably in the cool morning breeze. I presently slipped my arms around his neck, and ran my hands through his wet brown locks, giving in to the sheer pleasure of the moment. Gradually, but surely, the pressure of his lips on mine increased, pouring out passion and joy like I had never experienced before.

By God, I was absolutely breathless when I broke away for air, to say nothing of the fact that both my cheeks and my lungs were burning for two very different reasons. However, he still continued to hold me in his arms, more radiant than I had ever seen him.

"Julie?" he smiled softly down at me, seeming very much dazed.

"Yes?"

"I - "

That very moment was when all hell broke loose.

I heard the quiet sound of synchronized movement even before I heard the clash of swords being removed from their sheaths.

I reached for my own sword on instinct.

A large group of men clad in black began surround us from all directions, armed with weapons, heading straight for Nick, who had already pushed me behind him and crouched into a defence position, ready to fight them. My Captains had reached us as well to defend him, engaging in a fierce battle with the enemy.

However, even I could see that we were sorely outnumbered.

I shoved Nick hard on instinct, causing him to lose his balance, and stumble out of the circle of men who were fast closing in on us. "Run away!" I shouted, "take the empty trail to the main cobbled path leading to Anchorvale, and leave the duchy as soon as possible!"

With that, I pulled out my sword, and formed a back-to-back inner circle with my Captains, such that we were all facing our opponents face to face, each with equal chance of attacking and being attacked by them.

Simultaneously, the bloodbath began.

Press attack. Block. Spot an opening. Slash. Block.

The Captains and I lunged forward at them, wielding our swords with one hand, and defending our sides with the other, pressing a flurry of blows, one after another in a calculated, but haphazard manner, such that they were forced into a state of bewilderment, unable to predict where we would press attack next. We were able to severely injure a good number of them, mercilessly, ruthlessly, as suddenly as they had attacked us.

Slowly, our swords became a single silver blur, as our opponents' circle began to become staggered in their frequently uncoordinated advancements and retreat.

Press attack. Block. Spot an opening. Slash. Block.

Although we were able to fight against them well and hold our own, considering the sudden nature of the battle, there were too many things to be wary of. Our circle formation was helpful in ensuring that we need not fear being back stabbed, but it also meant that we had to defend ourselves against all the men in our line of sight, direct and peripheral.

Indeed, one of us had to battle around five of them simultaneously.

The more pressing issue, however, was the fact that Nick was attempting to make his way into our closed circle once more, with merely his fists clenched and held out as his form of defence, clearly not having heeded to my orders.

How was I to concentrate on fighting and keeping him safe at the same time?

I felt like pulling my hair out at that moment. "Nick, go!" I screamed, jumping as one of the men attempted to swipe at my feet, "for the Lord's sake, obey me at least this once, and please return to the duchy - "

"Julie - "

"Ma'am, we cannot hold up for much longer," Captain Morrison panted, clutching his bleeding abdomen, "there are simply too many - "

At that very moment, however, one of our opponents released a piercing owl hoot into the atmosphere, loud and desperate.

"Ma'am - "

"Dare not cease! We will battle with our lives," I ordered, "keep the formation, and keep fighting!"

Almost at once, more men in black began to hurry from the fringes of the woods, armed not with swords, but with white handkerchiefs. They joined their comrades on the outer circle, tripling their strength, almost suffocating the five of us within.

"Ma'am, how - "

By God, we could no longer view anything in front of us. The towering men blocked the light from the firmament, blocked us from our surroundings, until all we could see was their black uniforms, their handkerchiefs, and our own swords.

Not knowing what else we could do, we continued to defend ourselves against every sword that came our way, striking out without thought.

However, there were simply too many -

For how much longer -

At that very moment, however, a few men grabbed me by the waist, and lifted me up forcefully, pulling me out of the tight circle that the Captains and I had made for ourselves.

Damn.

"Release me, you imbeciles!" I snarled, as my sword was pulled out of my hands, and I struggled hard against the many arms that seemed to hold me firmly captive.

"Jon, you had best hurry," one of them called out to someone in a gruff voice, "this one is fiesty."

Another man appeared before me at that moment, his features concealed with a black mask, as he held out a handkerchief towards me, smeared with what looked like mashed up herbs with an extremely strong stench.

I swiftly turned my head away, but not before I had caught a whiff.

I frowned, confused. I knew that stench. Where had I -

At that exact moment my face was forced to meet his, and he pushed the handkerchief up my nose, I recognised the herb.

But it was too late.

There was nothing else I could do but groan, as my vision became unfocused, and a dark, dense cloud descended over my mind, effectively silencing my thoughts and cutting off all my senses.

***

Prince Nicholas

Have you ever been in a state of utter and complete emptiness? A state of darkness and numbness where you had no memories, no pain, no energy. You were simply drifting along in a black world, merely existing.

However, reality was not as comfortable, not as easy.

"Brother-mine?" I felt someone shake me hard then, "Brother-mine!"

My mind felt rather groggy, as I tried to force my leaden eyes to open. Almost at once, pain began to attack me from all directions, especially in my head, very much insistent upon making itself known to me.

Despite myself, I released a loud groan, but a hand was slapped over my mouth before the sound could leave my lips.

"Keep quiet before you bring those demons back here again!" a desperate voice hissed in my ear.

My vision focused on the anxious, haggard face of my twin looming over me.

How was he here?

"Greetings to you too, Richard," I mumbled, "why does my head ache so?" I dragged myself up and put my head between my knees, wincing at the persistent throbbing that was wreaking havoc on my mind.

"They knocked us out and took us hostage," Richard answered darkly, careful to keep his voice low, "do you remember, Brother-mine?"

Slowly, it all returned to me. The silent, surprise attack by a group of masked men mere moments before I was about to tell Julie that I loved her. How they had mercilessly murdered two Captains even before they could spring to my defence. How all of the men had held me in a vice grip despite my protests and struggles, and pushed a handkerchief of sorts up against my nose that had caused me to black out at once.

"I remember," I gripped the sides of my head in pain, "Julie. Where is Julie?" I looked to him.

He stared at me. "What do you mean?"

I was starting to panic. "Julie. They took Julie as well when they took me," I glanced around, "they knocked her out the same way they did to me. She should be here with us."

"She is not here, Nick," Richard shook his head, anxiety colouring his features, "we are the only ones imprisoned here. Of that, I am certain."

I forced myself to calm down. Julie would be all right. She would be perfectly all right. Nothing could be done if I started to panic now. I needed a peaceful mind to think rationally. If she was not here, it could only mean one thing.

She had escaped.

I prayed with all my heart that she had. It was horrible enough that she had been pulled into all this on our account, merely because we were royalty, and someone wanted us dead.

I took a deep, staggering breath. "Richard, how did they get hold of you? I thought no one else knew you were alive."

"Hush," Richard whispered, "I do not know how they knew, but they did. Brother-mine, we had best keep our voices low. I heard them speaking of tying us up once we regain consciousness."

I instantly lowered my voice. "All right. Do you know where we are now?"

He shook his head, glancing around the deadly silent, dingy, dimly lit dungeon we were currently locked up in. Only the faint chinks of armour I could hear from outside indicated the patrolling of guards.

"I only woke up a few minutes before you did. I do not know."

"Who took us?"

"I do not know that either. Mayhap my previous kidnappers?"

"We have to escape. If Julie is here somewhere, we need to find her as well," I forced myself off the cold, hard stone floor to try and search for a way out.

I swayed slightly for a moment, still groggy from whatever herb it was that they had used to knock me out earlier. Richard steadied me before I could fall, remaining seated.

"Do not bother," he muttered wryly, "I have tried looking. The only way out of this dungeon is through the front door. There are no windows, or loose stones on the walls. Moreover, someone is always patrolling outside, simply waiting for us to wake up."

Nevertheless, I did an inventory of the room, looking for any trapdoors, any loosened blocks of stone on the walls, tapping, prying, pulling at the stubbornly firm rocks.

Nothing worked. Richard spoke true. This dungeon resembled the Western Bordeux Dungeons back home. There was no food, no water, no way out, to say nothing of the fact that it was beginning to become extremely cold.

I plopped down next to my brother, frustrated and defeated. "Do you suppose anyone found out we are missing by now?"

Richard smiled, the curve of his lips laced with bitterness. "That depends."

"On?"

"If there were any trustworthy people around you when you were kidnapped."

A sense of foreboding crept over my spine at his ominous tone. "Trustworthy people?" I repeated in bewilderment, staring at him, "Richard, is there something you wish to tell me?"

His expression crumpled. "Jules placed her trust in the wrong person, Brother-mine," he whispered painfully, "but how could she have known...even I had no idea..."

I took hold of his shoulders, alarmed to see him so shaken. "Richard," I fixed my dark eyes on his solemnly, "what are you talking about? Please tell me clearly."

"How can he say anything when he does not know?" a snake-like voice spoke from the shadows by the door at that moment.

Richard and I froze at once, startled to find the front door now wide open.

There currently seemed to be about six men sheltered in the shadows, standing protectively around the seventh, armed with weapons of all sorts. The seventh was standing forward apart from them, the shadows keeping his face hidden as he spoke.

"Show yourself if you are a true man," Richard spat, his voice filled with unusual venom, "who are you and why have you had us imprisoned thus?"

"Tsk, tsk," the seventh shook a finger at us, "how will this be interesting if I tell you my motives this very instant? There are so many more surprises simply waiting for you."

Richard and I merely glared at him with every ounce of hatred coursing through our veins, not deigning to answer to that.

However, this man was clearly intent on spurning a reaction out of us. "Indeed, we have a special guest with us this fine morning to join us for a cup of tea. She is a sweetheart of yours, I believe, Nick. I must say, she is quite the character." His voice was amused, edged with cold cruelty.

Julie.

I could not reign in my rage any longer. "You twisted wretch!" I snarled, "I swear to God, if you so much as touch her, I will – " I charged towards him at once, fully intending to destroy.

Richard swiftly held me back, alarmed.

"He would not have done anything to her!" he assured me, his nails digging into my arms, "he only wants to make you angry. You know that." I broke out of his hold and ran towards the infuriating man anyway.

Unfortunately, I was caught at once, and forced down to the ground by the six men standing around him. They tied my arms behind my back as I writhed and thrashed to try and free myself from their impossibly tight hold. However, they were too strong, and I was too drained. My legs were tied up too with the same, coarse, thick rope.

Beside me, Richard met the same fate.

The man with the snake-like voice stepped out of the shadows at that moment to observe his bodyguards' handiwork, and the sight of his face plunged me into instant, disbelieving horror.

Simply like that, I ceased struggling, feeling my blood turn to ice. My heart almost stopped beating upon gazing at his countenance.

Were my eyes playing pranks on me? Because there was no way in hell -

"You?" Richard and I burst out together, astonished into silence.